


Be Okay

by m_class



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: 'the one where Joann saves the day with a magnet and Keyla does a donut in a starship', Backrubs, Banter, Crew As Community, Cuddling & Snuggling, Episode Addition, Episode: s02e02 New Eden, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Joann gets fussed over by her girlfriend, Kissing, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Roughhousing, Season/Series 02, Tea, and Michael is called out in absentia for being into jocks, in which Keyla gets some congratulatory punches on the shoulder from the crew, m_class’s 2018-2019 completed-WIP collection, or as we Jola shippers know it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_class/pseuds/m_class
Summary: Keyla and Joann relax, banter, and hold each other a little more closely than usual after Joann's safe return from the near-fatal away mission to Terralysium.
Relationships: Keyla Detmer/Joann Owosekun
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	Be Okay

**Author's Note:**

> The second of the ~seven WIPs from 2018 and 2019 that I’ve been working on finishing up and posting! This one I ironically not only wrote most of shortly after the episode aired, but actually went back and finished in its entirely in November; I somehow just managed to never to get around to posting it til now (which is weird considering how gratifying completing and posting fic, at least to me, is...whenever I had fandom time over the last seven (?!) months I just ended up busy or not in the headspace for this ficlet’s final edit/posting).
> 
> Anyway, here’s my take on an #Established Relationship coda to the Jola ep to end all Jola eps...or, wait, the Jola ep to end all Jola eps would be every ep where they mouth things to each other/brush against each other/shoulder bump, wouldn’t it? Well, my take on a coda to _a_ Jola ep, anyway. ;)
> 
> With sincerest* apologies to anyone who listened to U.S. pop radio in the summer of 2014 for earworming you with the title (if it’s any consolation, I also did it to myself pretty much every time I opened the doc).
> 
> *or at least sincere-ish

“Welcome home, Ms. Hero of the Away Team,” Keyla says with a grin, waving a hand in front of the doors to her quarters so that they swoosh open in front of Joann.

Joann rolls her eyes and laughs, wrapping an arm around Keyla’s waist and tugging her through the doors alongside her. “Welcome home yourself, Ms. Ace Pilot.”

Before Joann can disengage, Keyla throws her own arm around Joann’s shoulder, using their forward momentum to tug them both down onto the bed. Joann shrieks with surprised laughter. “Hey!”

“Hey yourself.” Keyla rolls onto her side and props herself on her elbow facing Joann, gazing her with sudden tenderness. “It’s good to have you home.”

Joann smiles, tilting her face toward Keyla’s, and Keyla dips her head forward to press her lips against Joann’s.

“It’s good to be home,” Joann says softly after they pull away, then grins. “Home to my brilliant, ace pilot, donut-executing girlfriend. Not to mention,” she adds, “our _highly_ exuberant crew.”

Keyla chuckles. “You can say that again.”

Both of them have spent the evening in the limelight. At dinner, crewmembers kept coming up to tell Keyla “Nice flying, ace!” and give her a slap on the back or a punch on the shoulder. For her part, Joann has been on the receiving end of admiring smiles, respectful nods, and a few calls of “Nice going, Owosekun!”--away mission details along the lines of “helped save the captain’s life” and “got the team out of a locked basement” apparently having spread rapidly, as away mission details at anything below the highest level of confidentiality are wont to do--but absent the hotshot pilot mystique and pilot social circle, she hasn’t been getting punched as much, something that suits her just fine.

“Being an ace flygirl seems to mean getting punched a lot,” she comments now as both of them lever themselves upright to lean back against the wall.

Keyla grins, rubbing her shoulder proudly. “Yep.”

Joann rolls her eyes.

“You know,” Keyla says, glancing at her with a mischievous grin, “If _I_ didn’t know that _she_ knew that you and I are seeing each other exclusively, I’d be worried about Burnham trying to steal my girl. Did you see the look in her eyes when she told everyone at dinner the story of your magnet trick?”

“Keyla!” Joann shrieks, shoving Keyla lightly in the side.

Keyla shrugs, cackling. “I’m _just saying_ , I’ve served with our fine first officer for coming up on five years now, and if there’s one thing she’s attracted to, it’s competence. Well,” she adds, “that and cute jocks.”

“That would put us both out of the running, then,” Joann remarks drily.

“Hey!” Keyla yelps. “I’m a jock!”

“You are not.”

“I am!”

“Keyla Detmer, you’re the biggest nerd I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s final.”

Keyla deflates theatrically. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

Joann breaks first, dissolving into exhausted giggles, and Keyla immediately follows, sinking back against the wall and snorting with laughter.

“Okay, I think both of our brains are officially off duty for the night,” Joann manages as her giggling finally subsides, peeling off her uniform jacket and tossing it onto Keyla’s desk chair.

“You can—you can say that again,” Keyla hiccups.

Joann’s grin turns into a yawn as she kicks off her boots. “I think I’m going to have a cup of decaf tea before I get ready for bed. You want anything?”

“I’ll have one too, and I’ll grab both of them,” Keyla replies, hopping off the bed and heading for the synthesizer.

“I can get my own tea, Kay!”

“You’re the hero of the away mission. Let me fuss over you for a while.”

Joann rolls her eyes, smiling. “One of three heroes of the away mission, if we’re going to use the term.”

“You’re _my_ hero of the away mission.”

“Getting mushy, are we?”

“You’re damned right I am.”

The mugs appear in the synthesizer in a flash of light, and Keyla grabs them both by the handles one-handed. Stepping back across the room toward the bed, she gives Joann’s back an absentminded rub over her tank top, then pauses, poking her below the shoulder, before setting the tea on the side table. “God, your back is tight.”

Joann groans in agreement, tipping her neck from side to side. “I’m glad I was on the mission, but it wasn’t exactly stress-free.”

“Backrub?”

“Mmm. That would be amazing.”

Kicking off her boots, Keyla hops back onto the bed, sitting crosslegged and sideways facing Joann, and Joann pulls her own sock feet in crosslegged, turning to face away from her. Keyla lays her hands on Joann’s shoulders, sighing in contentment and pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck before gently beginning to push the heels of her hands against Joann’s upper back. Slowly, she works her way down to the curve of her lower back and back up again, taking a moment to massage Joann’s neck with her fingertips.

Joann sighs in contentment. “That feels incredible, Kay.”

Keyla hums happily in response, massaging up and down Joann’s back for a few more minutes before pressing another kiss to the tender skin a few centimeters above the neckline of her tank top. Joann swivels around so that they are facing each other, reaching forward to caress Keyla’s face lightly. “Thanks, flygirl.”

“Any time,” Keyla says softly, before cracking a mischievous grin. “All you need to do is go on an away mission to a mysterious planet of Humans who turn out to have been transported across the cosmos by a mysterious red angel.”

“Noted.” Joann yawns. “If I thought I was ready for bed before, now I’m just about ready to fall asleep without even putting my pajamas on.” Yawning again, she adds, with feeling, “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to curling up in your arms tonight, Keyla Detmer.”

“And you have no idea how much I’m looking forward to getting to hold you,” Keyla says, her voice wobbling abruptly on the final words. Biting her lip, she scootches forward to wrap an arm around Joann. “I—aw, fuck, Joann, that might’ve been the most scared I’ve been since the war,” she says softly. “I’m so damn proud of you, and I’m so fucking glad you were down there, helping save the day, but—but when the planet’s ring started destabilizing and they said that all of you were going to—” She gulps. “That none of you were gonna make it if we couldn’t figure out a way to save you—” Her voice breaks again, and Joann wraps her arms around her. Keyla snakes her other arm up to wrap it around Joann’s shoulders, and for a few moments, they hold each other in silence.

“I’m okay,” Joann whispers. “I’m here, and I’m okay.”

“I know. I know you’re okay.” Keyla squeezes Joann lightly. “I just…might hold you a little closer for a while.”

Joann smiles through the tears that suddenly prick her own eyes. “I think I’ll be okay with that, Kay,” she murmurs. “I think I’ll be okay with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> We all remember [the look on Michael's face](https://starfleetdoesntfirefirst.tumblr.com/post/622111892522008576/starfleetdoesntfirefirst-starfleets-most) when Joann did the magnet trick, yes? Yes.


End file.
